Officer’s death leaves friends speechless

Photos of fallen Metro Police Officers Alyn Beck, left, and Igor Soldo. Two suspects, also dead, shot the officers at CiCi’s Pizza on Nellis Boulevard, then fled to a nearby Wal-Mart, where they shot and killed another person on Sunday, June 8, 2014.

A year ago this month, Officer Alyn Beck set his Facebook profile photo to an image of a Metro Police badge with a black stripe stenciled across, a tribute to his recently deceased comrade, David VanBuskirk.

Now Beck's friends and colleagues are paying the same homage to him and Officer Igor Soldo, who were gunned down Sunday morning inside a CiCi's pizza restaurant on North Nellis Boulevard by an extremist couple heralding the beginning of a "revolution."

A stunned community began to cope with the tragedy's aftermath Monday, flooding social media with condolences and tributes for the men in uniform and Joseph Robert Wilcox, 31, an armed bystander who died trying to stop Jerad and Amanda Miller's rampage at a nearby Wal-Mart.

"We're all speechless. Those scumbags ripped the life away from such an amazing person," Brett Keeler wrote on his Facebook wall, referring to Beck. "Such a tremendous loss."

Beck's older brother said the family hadn't had a death in years and relatives had "never dealt with anything like this."

"He's very dear to me," Charles Beck said from his Wyoming home, his voice trembling.

Relatives referred media inquiries to family friend Ryan Dennett, who said Alyn Beck's wife and three children were vacationing in California when the shooting occurred. They have since returned to Nevada.

Dennett said the officer's wife, reeling from the death, has requested privacy.

Alyn Beck, who grew up in Green River, Wyo., is survived by eight siblings, in addition to his wife and children, -- a boy, 15, and two girls, ages 12 and 10 months.

"They're an extremely, extremely close family," said Dennett, a local attorney who met the family through church services. "I think (Beck's wife) is still in shock and has not been able to fully grasp the magnitude of what happened."

Among condolences from politicians was a statement from U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, who noted that a member of his staff is Beck's cousin.

"I cannot imagine the pain she and her family must be feeling due to this senseless shooting," Reid said.

The death has been especially devastating because it happened a week before Father's Day, Dennett said.

"He was a great father and a great husband," Dennett said.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Less is known about Soldo. He had been a member of Metro’s force since 2006 and leaves behind a wife and baby.